Good Friday to you my friends! And Happy Easter weekend! As we begin thinking about moving to North Carolina, naturally our thoughts turn to packing and how best to get there. Here are a few tips on saving money on a move and best plate dividers/protectors!
This move from Pennsylvania to North Carolina is momentous in many ways. For starters, we are finally going home after 30 years. AND, my husband is retiring! In the past we have moved where my husband’s next job opportunity took us, which was twice to beautiful Colorado and twice to the also lovely Bucks County, PA. All of the moves were corporate moves therefore the company paid for the packers, movers, storage, unpacking etc. Soup to nuts. This time, it’s on our time and dime. Yikes!
So, this time, we are trying to be extra careful about what we take because most moving companies charge basically by the pound. And we have lots of pounds of stuff! Also, they charge by the box to pack your things so I’m trying to pack as much of the fragile things myself as possible. We may need to go into storage for a while unless we find a house immediately so we need to keep that in mind as well.
Moving companies build custom crates for fragile things such as antiques, mirrors, fine art and chandeliers. Therefore we are planning to pack and transport as many of these things as we can ourselves. For instance, a quote for a custom crate for an antique mirror is around $200. If you know me, you know I don’t own a mirror that cost $200 so it’s a stretch to imagine paying $200 for a custom crate for a $50 mirror. (or a $20 mirror) So, these treasures will be wrapped in blankets by me and put in my car for the trip versus the moving van. If possible, plan ahead and you can save big on things like this too.
Another thing I plan to pack myself is our chandeliers. Again, movers build custom crates so the chandelier hangs from a hook with packing, etc. No need. I’ll simply remove the crystals and wrap up the chandeliers and crystals in blankets and bubble wrap. This dining room chandelier is one of the fixtures going with us. Funny, I bought it in NC, hauled it to PA and now its going home to NC too! By packing and moving this piece alone will save us nearly $300. Totally worth it. 
Naturally the packers will check everything I pack and add additional padding, etc to insure safe and secure transport. (Like the Christmas decorations.) I’ve always had very good experiences with our moves, but recently I’ve heard a few horror stories about china getting broken or missing altogether. And what price can you put on family heirlooms? So, I’m packing and transporting the china myself too. (You may be wondering what size of monster car I have to haul all of this stuff, but my plan is to take several trips over the next few months. By the move date, my favorite treasures will already be safe and sound in NC). Here is one set of our china. My Mother-in-law gave us her Mother’s china recently and we certainly don’t want to leave it to chance regarding packing and transporting this. Simply not replaceable.
In order to safely pack our china, I found these great plate dividers by Feltectors. They come in a pack of 48 pieces, 12 dinner plate dividers, 24 dessert/salad plate dividers and 12 saucer plate dividers. I ordered them on Amazon and were $12.99 plus free Prime shipping. I ordered 2 sets. These are not only great for packing dishes but also are nice to use as dividers while storing your fine china. The felt pads help prevent scratches and chips when not in use. (This is a tip I learned from my sweet Mother-in-law!) I believe these dividers will do the trick!
After I got the felt plate dividers in the mail, I was thinking these would be so easy to make yourself with simple, inexpensive felt from the craft store. So, in case you want to give this a whirl, below are the dimensions of the plate dividers. But, if you are making your own, of course you can cut them to exactly the size of your own plates, bowls, and platters, right? And you could double up on the extra fragile pieces. Typically felt is just a few dollars per yard so this would be super cheap and easy to replicate.
~Dinner Plate Dividers-10.5″
~Dessert or Salad Plate Dividers-7.5″
~Saucer Dividers-5″
We currently have an offer on our house in Bucks County. Fingers crossed all of the due diligence goes smoothly and we will be out the door in a few short months. Meanwhile, phase 2 of the purging and packing continues. Each time I open a closet or drawer I ask myself if I really need each item. Chances are the answer is no. But then again, I’m a hoarder collector so there are just some things I just need to keep. Who knows when I’ll open that lighting store or antique store?
My favorite boys in the whole world will be here tomorrow so I have some cooking to do! Well, and cleaning. I wish you a very wonderful and blessed Easter weekend. God bless!
xoxo Dell
P.S. I got the extra glass crystal garland in the mail yesterday and I finished the DIY faux antique chandelier that is going in our powder room. The one on the left is the original and on the right is my mini make-over with gold paint and extra bling.
Who doesn’t love more crystals? I think the garland adds just the right amount of sparkle.
Cheers! Dell
